Bugatti’s Sur Mesure division has prepared yet another special edition of the Chiron Super Sport. This time around, the buyer wanted a black car stylized after one of the French marque’s timeless classics. The choice fell on the Type 50S racer that Ettore and Jean Bugatti took to their first 24 Hours of the Le Mans race in 1931.
The company produced a total of three such cars, finishing them in black instead of the traditional French Racing Blue. It wasn’t a coincidence, either, but a political statement. The government of France denied Bugatti sponsorship in the race, and the company retaliated by refusing to put national colors on its racecars.
During the race, one of the racers got a punctured wheel and left the track. The other two were soon pulled from the race by the company itself – the bosses were worried that there could be more incidents like that. Although they never won the Le Mans run, the cars were preserved as museum exhibits. One of them, with the chassis number 50177, inspired the Chiron seen here.
The car sports the original’s starting number 5 on the doors and in the front grille mesh. The rear fenders bear inscriptions ‘Le Mans 1931’, and the underside of the pop-up rear wing has the entire Le Mans circuit printed on it. The engine lid os decorated with a special ornament referencing the company’s 5.0-liter, eight-cylinder engine of the era, which propelled the Type 50S with approximately 250 horsepower (186 kilowatts).
The interior is black with aluminum accents and also has thematic letterings all around. Both door panels wear hand-drawn sketches of the original Type 50S, and the roof in the back is a two-part Sky View dome. It’s a paid option for the standard Chiron.
